Update, 9:06 p.m.: In a statement sent Wednesday evening, Vice President Pence’s office called the report from USA Today false. It continues “The Vice President’s office did not reach out to set up a conversation with Mr. Rippon. As we’ve said before, the Vice President is supporting all the U.S. athletes in the Olympics and is hoping they all win medals.”

The original story continues below.

Mike Pence is headed to South Korea, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and lead the official U.S. delegation on Friday. As part of his trip, Pence also requested a one-on-one chat with openly gay U.S. men’s figure skater Adam Rippon, who, per sources for USA Today, turned him down.

Pence presumably wanted to meet with the figure skater because of an interview Rippon gave last month, when USA Today Sports’ Christine Brennanasked him how he felt about the news that Pence would be leading the delegation.

“You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?” the 28-year-old said. “I’m not buying it.” Rippon added that, should he be able to attend, he would prefer not to meet Pence in the traditional meet-and-greet between the official delegation and the U.S. athletes.

Pence was reportedly upset by Rippon’s comments. His press secretary, Alyssa Farah, sent Brennan the following message: “The vice president is proud to lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympics and support America’s incredible athletes. This accusation is totally false and has no basis in fact. Despite these misinformed claims, the vice president will be enthusiastically supporting all the U.S. athletes competing next month in Pyeongchang.”

Rippon told Brennan in January that he would not consider meeting with Pence before his events, but might do so when he is finished on the ice.

“If it were before my event, I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they aren’t a friend of a gay person but that they think that they’re sick,” Rippon said. “I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet somebody like that.”

He added then: “If I had the chance to meet him afterwards, after I’m finished competing, there might be a possibility to have an open conversation. He seems more mild-mannered than Donald Trump . . . But I don’t think the current administration represents the values that I was taught growing up. Mike Pence doesn’t stand for anything that I really believe in.”

Pence’s alleged support for conversion therapy dates back to a statement on the Web site for his 2000 congressional campaign, in which he advocated for “institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.” Pence, who has been vocal in opposing L.G.B.T. rights, has said very little himself about conversion therapy beyond that vaguely worded statement; the debate about what the statement actually meant is divided enough that PolitiFact rates Pence’s alleged belief in conversion therapy as “half true.”

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